Question

Please explain about the Causes of the success of the Turks: Foundation and consolidation of the Delhi Sultnate: Iltutmish,

Razia. Balban in detail

Answer 1

Better military leaders- Turks were better leaders compared to native Indians. Indians were of no match for Mahmud of Ghazni or Ghori. Prithviraj Chauhan should have killed Ghori in 1st battle of Tairan but his short slightness opened the was for Turks in India.

Better Military tactics & equivalents - Indian cavalry was no match for Turk cavalry. Historically Indian breed horses were not equivalent to Arabian horses and Turk build very strong & mobile cavalry. Indians over relied on elephants and elephants were very dangerous for both armies in case they turn back.

Division of India into small kingdoms - There were many small kingdoms in North and Western India (present day Pakistan). And this made Turks work easy. A strong kingdom in north would have deterred Turks.

Constant warfare among Indian rulers - Indian rulers were always fighting among themselves. Also, Indian rules didn’t made a joint stand against Turks and Turks finished the easily one by one.

Iltutamish:
He conquered Multan and Bengal from contesting rulers, and Ranathambhore and Siwalik from their rulers.

He expanded his domain by defeating the Muslim rulers of Ghazni, Multan and Bengal, which had previously annexed some of his territories and threatened his domain. He conquered the latter two territories and made further conquests in the Hindu lands, conquering the fort of Ranathambhore and the lands of Gwalior and the fort of Mandur.

He instituted many changes to the Sultanate, re-organising the monetary system and the nobility as well as the distribution of grounds and fiefs, and erected many buildings, including Mosques, Khanqas (Monasteries), Dargahs (Graves) and a Hauz (reservoir) for pilgrims.

Shams ud-din Iltutmish founded the Delhi Sultanate and much strengthened the power of the slave dynasty and of Islam in the India, although his kindred and heirs were not as politically gifted, with no ruler comparable to him in the area until the time of Ghiasuddin Balban.

Balban:
Balban was the greatest of the Slave Kings.His Original name was Baha Ud Din. He was an Ilbari Turk. When he was young he was captured by the Mongols carried to Ghazni and sold to Khawaja Jamal din of Basra, a Muslim indoctrinator. The latter then brought him to Delhi in 1232 AD along with other slaves and all of them were purchased by Iltutmish. Balban Belonged to the famous band of 40 group of Turkish slaves of Iltutmish Ghiyas made several conquests, some of which were as vizier. He routed the Mewats that harassed Delhi and reconquered Bengal, all while successfully facing the Mongol threat, a struggle that spent his son and heir's life. So it came to pass that upon his death in 1287, his grandson Qaiqubad was nominated sultan, undermining the achievements of his grandfather.

In spite of having only a few military achievements, Ghiyas ud-din made civil and military reforms that earned him the position of the strongest ruler between Shams ud-din Iltutmish and the later Alauddin Khalji, whose military achievements rest on the order established within the sultanate by Ghiyas ud din Balban.

Razia sultan:
Razia was an efficient ruler and possessed all the qualities of a monarch. According to Minhaj-i-Siraj, she was "sagacious, just, beneficent, the patron of the learned, a dispenser of justice, the cherisher of her subjects, and of warlike talent, and endowed with all the admirable attributes and qualifications necessary for a king. She is also famous for her romantic involvement and legends with her lover and later turned husband.

Answer 2

INTERNAL CONFLICTS

After the fall of Pratiharas Empire, there arose small independent powers like Gahadavalas In kanauj, the Parmar as in Malwa, the Chalukyas in Gujarat,, the Chauhan in Ajmer, Yomars in Delhi busy in conflicts with each other, they posed little threat to any external attack.